Box



April 7, 1953 M. A. CRINKLEY ET AL BOX 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 27; 1947 April 7; 1953 M. A. CRINKLEY ET AL BOX 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Sept. 27, 1947 Patented Apr. 7, 1953 2,634,045 OFFI E BOX Matthew A. Crinkley and Emery C. Swanson, Minneapolis, Minn.

Application September 27, 1947, Serial No. 776,478

4 Claims.

This invention relates to a box and particularly to a box adapted to be folded into operative form from a piece of sheet material. Such boxes are now used in commerce in large numbers, the same being commonly used in bakeries to carry cakes, pies and other articles, in laundries to carry various laundered articles, in stores and cleaning establishments to carry suits and other articles of clothing, and in many other establishments for carrying various articles of commerce. Many of these boxes of the prior art have portions thereon of hook-like form which must be inserted through slots in the other portions or sides of the box when the box is folded into operative form. The folding of such a box into operative form and the folding of other constructions of the prior art takes considerable time. The blanks used to form boxes of the prior art are also rather complicated, requiring rather complicated dies in their production.

It is an object of this invention to provide a box formed from a blank of simple shape and one that can be very quickly and easily folded into operative form.

It is another object of this invention to provide a box foldable into operative form in an easy and quick operation, which box is so formed as to be very Strong in construction so as to maintain its desired shape and resist distortion or crushing.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a box foldable into operative form from a prepared blank of sheet material, said box having inwardly folded portions at its corners to give it strength and rigidity.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a box foldable into operative form from a blank of sheet material, said box having front, rear and side parts folded upwardly substantially at right angles from the sides of a rec tangular bottom, the same having a top portion extending from the top of said rear part and having portions with sides connected to said rear part and side parts respectively and folded along diagonal lines respectively to lie at the inner sides of said side parts respectively.

It is still another object of the invention to provide such a box as set forth in the preceding paragraph, said box having flaps extending outwardly from the sides of said top which flaps are connected to said last mentioned portions and being folded along diagonal lines at their .out the several views and in which: Y

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the box in closed operative position;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken substantially along line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken substantially along line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken substantially along line 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the blank used with lines indicating the lines along which it is folded;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing the box in partly folded condition;

Fig. '7 is a perspective view of the box in a more complete condition;

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the front end of the box in partly folded condition; and

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the front corner of the box in partly folded condition.

Referring to the drawings a box is shown which is formed from the blank I!) shown in Fig. 5. Said blank is of substantially rectangular form with a flap 50a of trapezoidal form extending from one end and spaced triangular portions Nib extending from its other end. Said blank will be appropriately creased along the full and dotted lines shown in Fig. 5. Blank It can be easily cut from a piece of sheet material, such as cardboard, by a suitable die. The blank 10 will be creased so as to fold upwardly along the lines Illc, Hid, We and I0 which lines form a rectangle. In folding the box into operative form the blank is first folded up about the line Mic. The rectangular portion Hlg forms the front side of the box. The rectangular portions 1th form the side walls of the box and the rectangular portion llli forms the rear wall of the box, and at the ends of portion lilg are rectangular portions lilj which are shown as substantially square in form. These portions [07 are adapted to fold along the diagonal lines lllk which extend outwardly from the front corners of the bottom him of the box. As side lily is folded upwardly about'line We, the portions it are simultaneously folded about the lines Ilik, said portions my folding upwardly about the lines Ink. In so folding" the box the operator preferably places hisfingers on the triangular zones iiiy'a at one side of the diagonals llilc respectively and which adjoin the side parts Hih respectively and presses upwardly and inwardly upon these zones Iliy'a. This brings the front part of the box substantially into the position shown in Fig. 6 and the side parts or rectangular portions Ith arealso brought into substantially vertical positions, especially at their front parts. The triangular portions Hlb' are now disposed substantially vertically, as shown in Fig. 6. The operator now swings the triangular portions It?) downwardly and inwardly pressing upon the same adjacent the creased lines Ion and said parts It!) fold along said lines um and are swung down at the inside of the side parts 10 and "1h. Thefolded zones of portions lily are now disposed at the outer sides of the parts Inn and the zones Iona and limb of portions 10b at each side of the lines llln are now disposed respectively along the end my and the sides I h respectively at the inner sides thereof and in the corners at the inside of the box. Thisis shown in Fig. 8.

The box is now at its front portion substantially in the form shown in Fig. 8 while the rear portion is still in its blank form with the side parts lll'h and parts extending therefrom folded upwardly. At the ends of the rectangular portions I02 are portions I00 of rectangular form, the same being shown as square and these are creased to fold along the dotted lines Hip respectively. A top portion I Uq of rectangular form similar to bottom portion Him extends from the rear part [02' at the side thereof opposite bottom Him and this top Hlq has extending therefrom at its sides, portions lllr. The portions I91 at their inner ends connect to the portions lilo along the lines Ills respectively, which lines its are creased for folding. The portions I81 are shown as somewhat curved at their outer ends and these are creased to fold along the lines Hit which extend outwardly and rearwardly from the upper corner of the rear wall mi. The blank is also creased for folding along the four sides of the bottom Him and the top lflq. With the box in the form above mentioned with the front portion as shown in Fig. 8 and the rear portion lying open, the operator now places his hands along the sides of the box and places his fingers on the outer sides of the zones ltoa at the outer sides of lines 10p respectively. This causes the zones lilo to fold inwardly along the lines Hip and simultaneously swings the rear wall or part itz' upwardly about its bottom edge. The box is now substantially in the position shown in Fig.6. The operation continues and the operator swings the top Ifiq forwardly so that the folded zones E80 now are disposed inwardly of the side portions lflh. The operator now presses downwardly on the side flaps I01 of the top and these fold along the lines [0t so that the triangular zones film are disposed at the inner sides of flaps I01 respectively and at the outer sides of the side parts 1th respectively. The operator now swings the flap lila downwardly about its inner edge and this is disposed at the front of the front part or wall mg, as shown in Fig. 1. The box is now in its closed and operative position. The folding thus comprises two operations; the first one where the operator presses on the zones Ma and swings the front part or wall Illg to vertical position and presses downwardly the triangular portions lllb folding them along the lines Ifin respectively and disposing the same at the inner sides of the front part or wall ill-g and the side parts or walls lilh respectively. In the second operation the operator as above described presses on the under side of the zones llloa and swings the rear part or wall I92 to vertical position simultaneously folding zones Hi0 inwardly along lines Hip and disposing the same at the inner sides of the side parts or walls lilh and then continuing the motion by pressing downwardly on the side flaps I91- and the end flaps [0a. The 'box can then be very quickly brought from the fiat condition of the blank to the full operative position. Actual tests have shown that the box can be brought to operative position in about half the time that a box having the hooked portions insertable through slits can be brought to operative position.

In using the box the article to be enclosed therein will preferably be placed in the box when '4 the front part of the box has been folded upwardly and the flaps [0b are folded downwardly in final position. If a cake is to be placed in the box it can now be placed on the bottom Him.

When the operator then places his fingers on the under side of the zones llioa and swings the rear Wall I02 into vertical position and brings the top over the box, the cake is not touched by any portion of the box being folded. Zones Ito and the inwardly advancing folded edge thereof which extends along line lflp remains substantially at the outer sides of the bottom 10m so that the cake is not touched. The top is swung over the box and the side and front flaps are pressed downwardly and the box is thus brought to closed position. Such boxes are usually and preferably tied with a string to hold the flaps closed.

The blank used to form the box is of comparatively simple form and can be easily produced by simple dies. The blank can be creased in the usual manner. In addition to the advantages of the blank and dies and the easy and quick folding operation the box produced has great strength and is much more rigid and durable than the boxes of the prior art. The pieces Nib which are folded downwardly at the inner sides of the box at the front corners and the zones Him which extend along the outer sides of the side walls lfih strongly reenforce the front corners and give great rigidity and strength to the box. There are five thicknesses of material at the front parts of the side walls lilh. This gives great strength to the box against being crushed vertically. The folded in zones lilo which are disposed at the inside of the walls Ifih at the rear ends thereof and the zones lllra which are disposedat the outer sides of said side parts or walls lilh also give great strength to the box at its rear corners. It will be noted that there are five thicknesses of material at the rear portions of the side walls Hlh, as shown in Fig. 5. The flaps Illa and H31 tightly close the box and also add to the strength and rigidity of the same.

The box of this invention is so easily and quickly folded into operative position that it is not necessary to have a stock or reserve supply of complete boxes on hand. With the boxes of prior art it has been customary in bakeries and other establishments using boxes, for the employes when not particularly busy to fold up some boxes so as to have a supply of completed boxes on hand. These take up considerable space and it is objectionable to have a big supply of them ready. In the boxes of the prior art, particularly those having the hook portions which are placed in slits in the box, it often occurs that the hook portions are torn or the slits are torn in the folding of the box. Such boxes have to be discharged and are thus a waste and a loss. There is no chance or probability of the box of the present invention being so torn or damaged and the loss in such boxes which is often times considerable is eliminated. Another advantage of the box of this invention is that the cake or other article can be very easily removed. When the box is opened by swinging the top upwardly and outwardly the top and the rear side are brought into substantially horizontal position. The cake can thus be removed with a sliding motion, the same being merely slid along the bottom of the box and out over the top. This feature is also often important in removing laundered shirts and other articles from the box.

From the above description it will be seen that we have provided a very simple, efficient and practical box and method of making the same.

The box is simpler than those of the prior art and can be made less expensively. The box can be folded into operative position in much less time than the boxes of the prior art and when so folded it constitutes a much stronger and more rigid box than the boxes of the prior art. Furthermore the blank used is of such a form that it can be cut with little orv no Waste of material. The flap Ida at one end of the blank can be formed by the portion cut out between parts 101). The invention has been amply demonstrated in actual practice and found to be from a blank to form an empty box having in combination, a piece of stiff sheet material having front, rear and side substantially rectangular parts extending upwardly from a rectangular bottom and disposed substantially at right angles thereto, a top part of rectangular shape extending from the top edge of said rear part, portions with sides adjoining said rear part and side parts respectively and 0f the same width as said side parts, said portions being folded inwardly respectively along lines making a substantially 45 degrees angle to the sides of said portions respectively and lying along the inner sides of said side parts, said top having flaps extending outwardly from the sides thereof joined to said portions at the inner ends thereof, each having a crease at its rear portion extending from the rear corner of said top at substantially the same angle to the side of said portion as said lines, said flap being folded along said crease so that it extends along the outer sides of said portion and side part respectively.

2. A box, such as a cake box, adapted to be folded into empty box form from a fiat blank made of stiff sheet material having in combination, a rectangular bottom part, front, rectangular side and rear walls extending upwardly from the sides of said bottom part, rectangular zones between the ends of said walls at the front and rear, said zones at the front being folded along diagonal lines and disposed at the outside of said side walls, triangular pieces extending outwardly from said front zones and front wall creased along lines extending from their apices to the ends of said front wall and aligned with said ends respectively, said triangular portions being folded along said crease and disposed inwardly and vertically along the front and side walls, said rectangular zones at the rear being folded along diagonal lines extending from the rear corners of said bottom and disposed at the inside of said side walls substantially parallel thereto, said box having a rectangular top portion extending from the top of said rear wall and having substantially rectangular flaps at the sides thereof having substantially the same width as said rectangular zones, said flaps being joined to the ends of saidrear zones and creased along a line extending in the same direction as the line of fold of said rear zones, said flaps being folded along said crease and disposed vertically along the outside of said side walls and rear zones respectively with the portion between said crease and the attached end of said flap disposed inside of the remainder of said flap.

3. A box, such as a cake box adapted to be folded into operative empty form from a flat prepared blank of stiff sheet material having in combination, a piece of stiff sheet material having front, rear and side rectangular walls and a rectangular bottom, said walls being bent upwardly substantially at right angles from said bottom, means for holding the front and side walls in vertical position, rectangular zones extending from the rear ends of said side walls respectively and of substantially the same width as said side walls and also being connected to said rear wall, a top portion extending from the top of said rear wall, said top portion having flaps at its sides connected to and of substantially the same width as said zones respectively, said flaps being creased and folded along lines extending from the rear top corners of said rear wall diagonally outward toward the free ends of said flaps, said zones being disposed along the inner side of said side walls and said flaps being folded along said creases and extending along the outer sides of and parallel to said side walls and said zones.

4. A box made of stiff sheet material adapted to be folded into shape from a blank initially creased along certain lines to form an empty box having in combination, a piece of stiff sheet material having front, rear and side parts and a rectangular bottom to which said parts are connected, said parts being substantially rectangular and bent upwardly from said bottom at substantially right angles, a top portion rectangular in plan connected to and extending from the top of said rear part, rectangular portions having sides connected to the ends of said rear part and to the rear ends of said side parts respectively, said rectangular portions being respectively folded along a diagonal extending from the rear corners of said bottom respectively to the opposite corner and being disposed inside of said side parts respectively, said top having extensions at its sides integral with and of the same width as said rectangular portions folded along a line extending outwardly from the inner 1 corner of said top portion substantially parallel to said last mentioned diagonal, and extending respectively along the outer side of said side parts and inside of said extensions at each side of said box.

MATTHEW A. CRINKLEY. EMERY C. SWANSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

